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Friday, September 14, 2007

Oh and as if it weren't enough that the Thrashers, Flyers, Stars and Blackhawks unveiled their jerseys and the Blues started selling theirs (prior to the unveiling I might add), there's still more news. Not huge, but worth posting anyway.

The Buffalo Sabres have acknowledged their new Rbk EDGE uniforms on their official web site. See the graphic.

So there that is. Incidentally, the AP released this photo of Ryan Miller being photographed in said uniform. Solid, mostly unchanged.

So we move on to Phoenix where their web guy isn't even trying. I'm sorry, but really? A giant Rbk Hockey logo?

Tease us with a little logo embroidery like everybody else or something. Oh, that reminds me.

The Blues will probably be second as the Coyotes will launch their new threads at 11 AM. The Blues come about 30 minutes later. Anyway, that's what I was talking about with the whole logo embroidery teaser thing. It's fun. But teased we need not be. The Blues started selling replica jerseys today so we won't be surprised tomorrow.

Quite frankly, it's one of my favorites of the new crop. Those shoulders are nice. I wish more teams had tried something like that. This particular image was provided to us by Brad at St. Louis Game Time.

Anyway, I've got one more item as a special bonus for those of you who made it this far through the post. We've got another picture of the New York Rangers' new Rbk EDGE sweaters.

Check it out. Chris Drury is modeling the new home sweater for a camera. I don't know where this photo came from though. It was simply emailed to me. But we've seen the jerseys before. It's the same.

Enjoy your Friday night now, and don't spend too much time on the computer!

Keeping with tradition and a design that many have called the best in professional sports, the Chicago Blackhawks unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms today. Look at them here.

So you want to know the first thing I noticed?

They altered the secondary logo on the shoulder. And I think it looks great! There wasn't really anything wrong with the old one in my mind, but the changes have given it such classic feel that it lacked a little bit in years past.

Martin Havlat, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook were on hand in the Windy City to model the jerseys for the cameras. You guys know how I feel about the Blackhawks' logo and uniforms, but I like these a lot. They've done a very nice job keeping with their tradition while also moving forward with the design. It kind of makes me glad the NHL and Reebok are doing this.

Add the Dallas Stars to the list of teams that have unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms this summer. That was done today and they're exactly what everyone feared.

The first thing I'll say is that I was never behind this whole idea that manifested itself in the form of these new home sweaters. But after seeing these photos, consider me a convert.

In a "new" NHL where cookie cutters are being doled out for even the smallest of things (i.e.: web sites and the like), I find it comforting if not overwhelmingly reassuring that one team managed to step outside the prescribed boundaries and come up with something — wait for it — different.

Now many of you will respond to that superfluous thought with the suggestion that in choosing to be different, they've ruined something good. Obviously I disagree but am always open to a good argument.

Oh and to the next person who suggests that the reasoning behind "DALLAS" being written across the chest is anything other than to remind fans where they are — a giant gold star. From me to you. I really don't understand the number of people seriously under the impression that any NHL doesn't know where the teams are from. Dallas and Vancouver do not have text on their jerseys because their residents lack cognitive function and at various points during a three-hour period forget where they are. Now I'm done with that...

Even if I were the kind of person who could spend money on anything hockey-related that didn't have a Lightning logo, I still probably wouldn't buy a Stars sweater. But that doesn't mean I don't like them. I think the designers knew what they were doing and hit the nail on the head.

Which reminds me, the Stars did a cool thing and posted on their web site the entire graphics package for the uniform set. It's pretty cool.

Finally, the Stars also gave us a look at the history of their uniforms. I'll leave you with that.

At the moment, the team doesn't have any photos up on its official web site, but I was emailed a couple photos of the new road sweaters.

If the tag on the front is any indication, this particular example is a replica. But it does have the giant numbers we've grown to love.

As more photos become available I'll post them here and at my official Rbk EDGE photo gallery where you can find oodles of photos of the new jerseys both in action and on mannequins.

UPDATE (7:50 PM): As noted in the comments, the Flyers have posted photos from the unveiling event that took place today along with the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms. Grabbed a couple to post here.

Two uniforms you'll never see on the same ice again. Here's something else you'll never see on the ice again.

That just reminds me of that episode of The Office where Michael brought in the Ben Franklin "stripper" for the ladies. Anybody watch The Office? That shit is funny! But I digress.

Nice uniforms on the Flyers. Can't be displeased with those. Minor alterations, but they fit in nicely with the progression of sweaters over the years. I'll leave you with a photo reconciling the past with the present.

The Atlanta Thrashers unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms at a press conference today.

There were no real surprises or alterations from last year's uniform set.

Alexei Zhitnik and Pascal Dupuis modeled the new sweaters for cameras this morning. One interesting note is that they managed to make the left sleeve element work with the new Reebok jerseys. I always liked "ATLANTA" down the arm. It's something unique that no one else has done.

By the way, you can't see it here, but on the photo above, the secondary overhead thrasher logo has been added to the blue jerseys. It wasn't there last year, but it's a great logo. Glad to see they put it back.

And here's a close-up of the collars. They're pretty much sticking with what they know here.

And that's what the back looks like. Same lettering and numbering — just with much larger numbers. What do you guys think? Do the Thrashers have a winner here?

Even though they were already on the web site, I'm calling this the official unveiling as the Anaheim Ducks wore their new Rbk EDGE uniforms on the ice for the first time in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings. That game was also our first look at two teams in action wearing the new threads.

Here you see Maxim Kondratiev sporting the new look on the ice. He scored a power play goal for the Ducks in the league's first exhibition game of the season.

Looks very much the same as last year's jerseys. I still can't get over the wordmark for the logo. I like the jerseys. I think they're great. But really, get rid of the "ucks" and just use the "D" as your logo, all right?

But that's not all. I've still got more pictures from last night's opener.

I hope no one is complaining anymore. These new Reebok uniforms really do look awesome on the ice. I know it was hard to tell since they were all draped over mannequins. We're used to seeing them in action. Now we are and it's quite a sight.

My one beef is the oversized "C" and "A" on the captains' sweaters. I don't really think they need to be that big. In the Ducks' case, it sort of overtakes the logo on the front of the sweater.

These action photos will also be a good chance for us to keep a tally of which teams are wearing the numbers on the front as well. As of yet, we still don't know how many teams are doing that.

By the way, later on today, I'll be adding these photos to the Rbk EDGE gallery. I'll try to do that for as many teams as I can find photos for as we go through the preseason and beginning of the regular season.